A WOMAN with cerebral palsy had her wheelchair stolen while visiting her mum.

Michelle Doidge was left devastated after thieves stole it from outside the bungalow in Prince Avenue, Westcliff.

She relies on the wheelchair because she struggles to walk and needs 24-hour care and is particularly upset because she had decorated it with stickers of her favourite boyband – JLS.

Michelle, 41, who lives in Mendip Crescent, Westcliff, said: “It was beside my mum’s bungalow when it happened. I was so upset.

“I miss my JLS stickers. I’m just stressing out not to have it.”

She was told it would take 16 weeks for a new wheelchair to be made and shipped from abroad, but a family friend, who works in a care home in Berkshire, has stepped in to lend her a spare one.

However, if someone at the care home needs it, it will have to be sent back.

Her mum, Sheila Doidge, said: “Now she’s older and she’s had so many falls she’s been reliant on her wheelchair.

“She has no balance. She can walk holding an arm with great difficulty. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of people out there who haven’t got a care about anyone else. But I’ve heard from the wheelchair company that a lot of these thefts have been happening.”

This was part of a string of bad luck, as Michelle had her handbag stolen from her wheelchair in Southend High Street just a few months ago.

Her mum said: “It’s such a horrible thing to do, and it’s really upset her.

“Usually she’s very chatty when you meet her and everyone at Tesco in Prince Avenue knows her.

“She likes to go and look at the CDs on her own and when she goes through the check-out she talks to everyone.”

The wheelchair is an Invacare 3 in metallic red and chrome.

It was stolen at 4.45pm on Friday, November 11.

Anyone with information can call PC Hazel Williams at Leigh police station on 101.